Domestic violence protocol

[projekktor id=’21922′]

Hamilton police respond to nearly 20 domestic violence calls every day. Today the chief signed off on protocol to manage high risk domestic violence offenders. There are all kinds of different domestic abuse cases in Ontario.

“I left a couple of times after he had been violent. When he would come home and break through the bedroom door and I was very afraid of him.”

Cathy Watts survived her own domestic violence nightmare. Domestic violence is different for everyone.

“Just intimidation. If he was angry I couldn’t pass down the hall, he would block my way. And by the end I was terrified of him.” said Watts.

“Sometimes it’s the daily harassment that can’t be traced.”

In 2015 Hamilton police responded to just over a thousand criminal allegations of domestic dispute. From the investigations just over 850 people were charged.

Cathy helped to create the web site one in four. It directs women who need help to services available in Hamilton. But sometimes even viewing a website about domestic violence isn’t safe.

If you are in a situation where you are reading something on a screen and somebody walks in and you need to get out of the situation quickly for your own safety, you can press the panic button that will take you to a totally different web site with no links to your search of domestic violence. A simple tool that many women like her requested.

Cathy packed up her kids and left the abusive marriage. She is now been back to work as a pediatric nurse and has started a new life away from her abusive ex husband.